Allen Taylor is the Director of the Laboratory for Nutrition and Vision Research at the Tufts’ USDA Human Nutrition Research Center on Aging and a Professor of Nutrition, Development, Molecular and Chemical Biology, and Ophthalmology, Tufts University. Recently Dr. Taylor founded and became the Director of Science Training Encouraging Peace - Graduate Training Program (STEP). 

Based upon the concepts that diseases respect no walls and science knows no borders, STEP builds bridges across the socio-political divide between Israel and Palestine. STEP is a person-to-person, cross-border program that brings young Israeli and Palestinian healthcare professionals /scholars together and funds their education in pairs, in academic graduate programs in the health and medical sciences, currently in Israel. Each pair is comprised of one Israeli and one Palestinian.  STEP Fellows study intensively together for the full length of an MS, PhD, or certificate program in the same program or laboratory over a period of up to four years. Face to face, and day after day, they hone their skills and pursue answers to the region’s public health or medical problems.